To Free A Soul
by Zana Moon
Summary: [AU] Sequel to 'To Tame An Animal'. The war between Reem and Haden wages on, but Inuyasha and his friends are fighting a war of their own, one that may ultimately affect the fate of everyone else...
1. Prolouge

**A note from the author!**

Heya, Zana here. Surprised about all this? Me too. I really wasn't planning to write a sequel. In fact, here's a little story before the story:

There are two main reasons as to why I am continuing from where To Tame An Animal abrutly left on.

1) The FF bot still e-mails me notifications sometimes that people have favorited the story, which just shocks the hell outta me. As well as remind that TTAA even exists. (I have absolutley no attention span, okay?) I reccently went back and re-read my story because of this and, while I still have failed to find why it's favorite material, I realized something: the ending of the story completely contridicted what I said in the beginning of the story, about how I hate not finishing things. That's not too surprising, since I openly admit that I'm stinking hypocrite, but it did make me feel bad. I hate it when authors end a good story that way, so open and cliffyhanger-y, yet here I did the same. That, plus the encouragement/disappointment in the reviews, lead me to consider writing a sequel and finishing things up properly. Also...

2) I got a bad case of writer's block with current original fic. ; At least I'm being honest, right?

So I figured, "Hell, it's summer vacation. I got the time. Why not?" And here we are. Of course, I can't promise you anything. This story may not be updated as frequently as its predecessor, and it will probably make a lot less sense...due to me not having the entire storyline plotted out just yet. Also, it's more fiction-science than science-fiction this time around. xD I'm too lazy to be super scientifically-correct about things. (I mean, it is summer vacation after all. Don't expect me to think _too_ much now!) Oh, and there's going to be a lot more similarites between this and the actual series than before, but it's going to be so twisted up I'm not even sure if that's the right way to put it...

Well, so much for a confident start! I hope someonewill be happy about this, or at least the idea of me _trying_ this. xD I shall try my best!

**Just winging it,**

Zana

* * *

**Prolouge**

"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust...eh, it ain't good enough."

The scientist shook her head, but it looked more like it was bobbling on her twig of neck and would possibly fall off if she moved it too much. She looked very much like a hag, and _that_ was putting it nicely. Her eyes were too big for her face–that's probably what threw her head off balance–and under the lab coat, it was all skin and bones, with the skin seemingly sliding its way off the skeleton it was draped over. Making a tsk-ing noise, the old woman put down her equipment on the steel table and turned around.

"Is this all you could get?" she crackled, eyeing the man in the doorway who had been overseeing her work. The cold look she received in reply sent a shiver down her badly hunched spine. Remembering who she was dealing with, she hastily added, "Sir."

"Yes," the man finally said, lazily brushing aside a lock of black hair from his face. His expression was hard to read, but there was an obvious hint of annoyance in his voice that made the scientist even more uneasy. "We've already been through this, doctor. That is all there was to retrieve of the remains."

"Unfortunate, very unfortunate," the hag clucked, regaining her composure only after she broke away from her employer's gaze. "I can use it, yes, but the results will be poor. You know how the process works, sir. If it is to be efficient, I'm going to require another sample."

"Another sample cannot be found," growled the man irritably. "That's _it_. She had no children. Her sister died long before, and she didn't carry the gene anyway. There are no other known relatives to be found. Where do you expect me to procure another sample, you stupid old woman?"

"I never said it had to be an exact match, fool!" she fired back at him before she could stop herself. Luckily, it appeared he was going to let her outburst pass this time. If she had been anyone else...

"Just...similar, sir," she continued, her tone subversive again. "Close enough. One that does carry the gene should work well enough. I know, sir," she quickly added, "That the gene is quite rare, but surely someone of your position could–"

"If it were that easy, I wouldn't need this DNA sample at all," he said flatly, leaving the doorway to inspect the room and the work being done a little more closely. The man rummaged through her things without so much a warning. This was almost becoming more trouble than it was worth. He could use the DNA of anyone who had the gene, but so many few did. Not only that, but the bio-file would most likely be rejected if the sample wasn't at least slightly the same as the original. This alone wouldn't render the plan useless, but it would certainly hinder it. All that information, wasted...

"What's this?" the man suddenly asked, staring at one of the files he had been carelessly shuffling through. "Is this her?"

"Yes, of course!" The scientist looked slightly amused. "You mean to tell me that after all the research you've done, not once did you look at a picture of the thing?"

"It seemed like such a frivolous thing at the time," he said absently, still staring at the image on the file.

"At the time?" echoed the scientist questionably, but the man didn't seem to hear to her. He was too intent on the picture. At first he looked shocked, and almost angry, but it was brief and soon replaced with a glint in his eye and slow smile creeping up his face. The hag looked on with confusion; she couldn't even begin to guess what was going on in his mind, what had changed his attitude so suddenly...only that it had something to do with what he saw.

"Sir?" she hazarded, wringing her wrinkly hands with anxiety. One never knew what was going to happen when her boss smiled, but it was often something unpleasant. "Is something wrong, sir?"

Naraku returned the files to the table and straightened back up, letting out a low chuckle.

"No. Not at all. In fact, it's interesting. _Very_ interesting, and maybe even perfect."

**.t.b.c. (cue dramatic music!)**


	2. Reality Check

**A/N: **Yay, writing this cured my writer's block! The downside is now I'm going to be going back and forth between writing this and my other stories, and I am not known for my awesome juggling skills. -sweatdrop- So, let's see if I improve! I forgot how fun and easy it is to write fanfiction, so that might help. xD

Yeah, so, I like to think I was being clever when I wrote this, but then after I proofread it, it all seems blaringly obvious. As well as slightly redundant feeling. Eh, I dunno. You guys tell me what YOU think, mmkay? Also, if I randomly changed between tenses, please let me know. I tend to have a problem with that.

**No one ever makes the first jump,**

Zana

PS- I need to stop doing that. xD

* * *

**(2) Reality Check**

_:happiness comes with an expiration date._

**I.**

It was around here somewhere...

Inuyasha rummaged through the pile of dirty clothes that practically buried the small metal dresser. He very well knew the purpose and mechanics of a dresser, but that didn't make much a difference considering the fact that he was a teenaged boy. Same went for the washer. Now that Kagome wasn't there to remind him that, "Hey, you know, you _could _toss your clothes into the laundry chute when you're done wearing them," he hardly ever bothered to. What did it matter if his clothes weren't always clean? He showered every other day, didn't he?

"Ow!" Something sharp underneath the clothes had pricked his hand. Muttering curses under his breath, he pulled it out to see what it was.

Ah, finally, he found it! Well, a part of it anyway. That was strange; he didn't remember breaking the mirror. It must have been something he absently threw onto the dresser that smashed it. The shard was still big enough to use though, thankfully. He could have just gone into the bathroom and used the wall mirror there, but this idea occurred to him a little too late, and at the cost of a cut, no less.

Unbothered by this, though, he absently wiped his hand off on his jacket–it was red anyway, so the blood wouldn't ruin it or anything–and held up the mirror shard to his face. When the head with orange eyes and long white hair looked back at him, he held it out a little further back so he could see his neck in there too.

Inuyasha stared thoughtfully at his reflection, mainly at the necklace he had recently received from Kagome. Strung upon black cord were three metallic-white fangs (fake, of course), separated from each other by tiny black beads in between in each one, so that one fang hung down in the middle while the other two hung up closer to his shoulders. He picked at one of the beads, then tossed the mirror shard back on dresser with a shrug.

'_I guess it's not that bad,'_ he thought. _'Not bad enough to offend Kagome by not wearing it, anyway.'_

It was from Kagome, but Miroku had been the one to deliver it and he had been suppressing a smirk when he did. He probably thought necklaces were girly. And they were girly, usually, but Inuyasha didn't think this one really was. Maybe it didn't matter, though. Maybe it was some kind of culture taboo, guys wearing necklaces. But hadn't he seen some men wearing chains around their necks before? Maybe it was certain type of necklace? And why did Kagome want to give him a necklace anyway? Was it some sort of holiday or tradition? Did he have to give her something back..?

Inuyasha let out an irritated growl and decided that he didn't care. All this culture stuff was making his head hurt. He had been in confinement for seven years, plus now he was in a different country! Everything was strange or uncertain to him; more trouble than it was worth. To hell with it all. He would do what he wanted.

It was just like that time Miroku had made fun of his hair. Long hair was another girly thing, apparently. He had even considered cutting it, now that he was free and far from that hated Facility he had been imprisoned for years on end. That was the only reason his hair was so long in the first place; it hadn't been cut once over the last seven years.

Kagome had overheard the hair-cutting debate and commented that she liked Inuyasha with long hair. He ultimately decided not to cut it after all. He also stopped caring about what people might think of him.

Well, most people. He was still planning on getting a gift later on for Kagome in return for the necklace, just in case...

Now bored, he flopped over onto his comfy bed, laying on his back with his hands behind his head. It was still a weird feeling, having a nice bed like he did now. It had been a month since his escape, but everything still felt so surreal, like a dream. If it was a dream, he hoped he would never wake up.

His eyes found the ceiling and he absently stared at the tiny glow-in-the-dark stars that Kagome had forgotten to take down when she left. She once mentioned something about having stars on the ceiling of her bedroom back in Lenear, so she stuck the plastic ones on the ceiling here to make it more comforting, or something like that. Inuyasha had never bothered to take them down.

Kagome had only stayed in this room for about week. Then she decided to move into the Linder House: a multiplex building for the city's homeless, orphans, and now, because of the war, a refugee shelter. She was optimistic that her family would be arriving soon and they would buy a house there, so why get comfortable anyway? Besides, she had said, she didn't want to trespass on Mushin's hospitality any more than she needed to and oh, Inuyasha could have his own room!

He was always grumbling about sharing a room with Miroku, but if he had known that this would be one of Kagome's reasons for leaving, he would never uttered a single compliant. Still, it wasn't too bad. He did enjoy having a room to himself and the Linder House wasn't too far away. Kagome wasn't alone, either: Sango and her brother lived there too. (They were orphans, Inuyasha learned. Their father was a soldier and had been killed in action during the very first year of the war.)

Inuyasha closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. Surprisingly, Kagome's scent still lingered in the room, despite the growing stench of his dirty laundry...

"You don't even care, do you?"

Inuyasha opened one eye to see Miroku glaring at him from the open doorway. Inuyasha's door was always open; he never shut it. The idea of it just didn't sit well with him for some reason. He often spent most his time outside the apartment as well. Mushin said he was probably suffering from claustrophobia, but Inuyasha hadn't gotten around to looking the word up yet.

"No," he easily replied, shutting his eyes again. "By the way, what is it that I don't care about again?"

His friend ran a hand through his short black hair with a frustrated sigh: why did Inuyasha always have to be so careless like this? Didn't he realize the importance of the situation?!

"We're spending the night at Sango's tonight," he said through gritted teeth. "You need to get your stuff together."

With a bored expression on his face, Inuyasha sat up on his bed and scratched behind one of his ears, silently wondering if dog demons like himself could get ticks.

"I still don't get the point of this," he commented as he scratched. "I mean, it's not like we don't get to see them everyday anyway, so what difference does it make if we sleep here or there?"

"The difference, my foolish friend, is that if we sleep over there, then there's a higher possibility of catching a glimpse of the girls in their pajamas."

"I thought we'd have to sleep in her brother's room, though," Inuyasha pointed out. "Besides, Kagome just sleeps in a T-shirt and pants anyway..."

Suddenly, everything seemed to go very quiet and Inuyasha froze, only his eyes moving to burn a deadly glare into Miroku's slowly grinning face.

"Don't you even start," he growled. "I'm not the perverted one here. I just saw her when she was sleepwalking one night, that's all."

"Riiiiight," Miroku said with a wink, earning him a flying pillow to head. He picked it up and flung it back at Inuyasha, who simply caught it. "Save it for later, man. Ooh, I can see it now: two pillow-fighting girls in lacy pajamas and–hey!"

He picked up the offending pillow once more, but this time he turned and threw it out the door. "There, I packed your pillow for you. Now get your blanket and some clean clothes and let's go already."

"Feh. Are you sure _you_ wanna go?"

The playful mood evaporated and Miroku twiddled his fingers in a nervous matter. He and Sango had recently broken up. Which they did a lot, apparently, but Inuyasha wasn't surprised, given how Miroku had the tendency to flirt with any cute girl who happened to come his way. Miroku had confided in him the night before, however, that when they were broken up, Sango usually acted very angry with him. But this time, after saying the ever so cliche "let's just be friends" line, she actually meant it, because she didn't seem to be mad at all. She was just treating him like she would any friend.

This upset Miroku because he took it as a sign that she might actually be done with him and they would not get back together this time. Inuyasha, still somewhat socially inept, didn't really understand this: wasn't it _good_ thing that she wasn't mad? Miroku explained that it wasn't, as it was not her usual beahvoir, but he might as well been talking to a wall, because Inuyasha then suggested that if he was so worked up about it, then he should just do something to piss her off and they'd be back together in no time.

Miroku took a deep breath and sucked up his courage.

"Of course I'm sure," he exhaled quickly. "I must jump at every chance I get to win over fair lady's heart. Um, again. That's why you need to go too; I need the support!"

"Really?" asked Inuyasha, raising an eye brow skeptically.

"No, not really," Miroku admitted. "But if I'm going down, I'm taking you with me. Oh, and by the way...when are we going to–"

Inuyasha cut him off before he could finish the question.

"Get out. I can't pack if you keep bugging me."

Miroku did not seem surprised by his reaction and promptly turned on his heel and left as he was told. Inuyasha got up to close the door behind him–well, actually he left it a crack open–and grumbled as he threw a spare shirt from the dresser and his blanket on the floor. (Inuyasha's idea of packing.)

He knew what Miroku was going to ask. He asked it every time at the end of a conversation with him, probably trying to trip him up: _When are we going to Haden?_

It was the "we" part Inuyasha didn't like to hear. When they initially decided that they were _all_ going to Haden to storm the Facility, Inuyasha had no choice but to give in at the time. But then they started talking about it less and less, making him hope that perhaps the idea of it was fading away and they would lose interest.

Oh, _he_ was still going to go. Plots of Naraku's downfall were never too far from his mind. But taking the others with him? Not a chance. They would only slow him down and get in the way. It was stupid and pointless to make a group outing of it.

Sango wouldn't be hard to persuade: she had a more realistic standpoint on going through extreme hardship to fight a battle that wasn't hers. She was really concerned for her friends though, but if push came to shove, Inuyasha figured he could always guilt trip her with her little brother: she wouldn't dare leave Kohaku behind to go put herself in danger.

Kagome would be a little more difficult. She felt responsible for the still imprisoned captives they had left behind and no one else seemed to be doing anything about it. There was also the fact that her family hadn't come yet, which made her worry. If they did arrive soon, though, Inuyasha hoped that would be enough to make her want to stay here. Then again, with the current on-going situation, it could be unlikely that they would...

Miroku was the one Inuyasha was really having the most trouble with, however. Inuyasha didn't have a clue why the boy was so eager and determined about it, and he refused to let the matter go but he never explained why.

Inuyasha liked having friends, but he never knew that they could be such a pain too. A half-formed idea of sneaking off to Haden by himself lurked in the back of his mind, but for now he returned his attention to the sleep over and gathered his things so they could go.

**II.**

"Today marks the third week of Lenear's mysterious and seemingly impenetrable lock-down. There still has been no word from Haden regarding the unknown state of their capital, but evidence suggests that the officials within the city are unable to make any outside contact, not even with their own country..."

Kagome's eyes were glued to wall screen. She was sitting at the foot of Sango's bed, her arms wrapped around her pulled up knees and her attention focused solely on the newscast. Miroku was sitting back in the corner, playing some sort of card game with Sango's little brother: little holographic men appeared above the cards when they were laid down and attacked each other. Sango herself was lounging on her bed, pretending to read a magazine while secretly taking peeks above the pages to watch Miroku, and her cat was curled up against her. Inuyasha was laying on his side in the middle of the floor, examining his claws and looking immensely bored.

"Although Reemian troops have reached a major turning point in the war, the isolation of Lenear has even the top generals worried. Executive Major General Renald Morcorsky stated earlier this week that the military is taking no chances and must consider that the sudden isolation may be a part of some surprise attack organized by Haden loyalists..."

Inuyasha's eyes flickered over to Kagome, who had grown tense as the news reporter babbled on. Why was she watching it if it made her upset? His eyes moved back to the newscast in question and narrowed. Grumbling under his breath, he pulled himself off the ground and stood in front of the wall screen. With two quick taps of his fingers, the images on the screen blinked out, revealing the fourth pink wall of Sango's room. Kagome looked at him questioningly and the others followed suit when they noticed that Inuyasha had turned it off.

"I'm _bored_," he whined. "I don't want to watch the stupid news, I want to do something fun! Isn't that why we're here?"

"Inuyasha does have a point," said Miroku, as Kohaku laid down a card and beat him for the tenth time in a row. "And since it's getting late, I suggest that you ladies go change into your pajamas now–"

Sango reached behind her for her pillow and casually hurled it at Miroku's head.

"Ow! Stop that already! Are you guys trying to give me a concussion?!"

"We could give each other make overs," Sango suggested, completely ignoring the overly dramatic Miroku (much to his dismay). "How about it, Inuyasha? There's so much we can do with that hair of yours."

"Not if I kill you first," he said defensively, not liking where this was going. It was one thing to keep it long. But letting them braid it or something...no way.

"We could watch a movie," piped Kagome, looking much more cheerful now. "I got a copy of that new one they just released, _Feudal Fairytale_. I haven't watched it yet but I heard it's really good."

"Oh yeah, I think I remember seeing trailers for that," said Sango. "What's it about?"

"It's an adventure/romance movie starring Moneca Stori and Richard Cox. Stori plays this girl who gets teleported to some medieval fantasy world on accident and has to team up with this monster-boy, played by Cox, and they go on a quest to defeat evil or something like that."

"Sounds stupid to me," Inuyasha commented. Kagome rolled her eyes.

"You think everything is stupid."

"If it's got Moneca Stori in it, I'll watch it," Miroku put in. "She's such a babe." He tossed Sango a sideways glance to judge her reaction and was horrified to find that she didn't seem the least bit upset. Kohaku looked on with confusion as the boy then proceeded to bury his face in his sister's pillow, looking somewhat helpless.

"Well, I'll go down to my room and get it then, if you're all agreed." Inuyasha protested that he did not agree but Kagome was able to convince him after mentioning that it was chalk full of fight scenes and was not rated G.

"Kohaku, why don't you go with her and stop by the pantry to see there's any popcorn."

"You're just trying to get rid of me again, Sis," he groaned, but he did as Sango said and went out the door after Kagome. He wanted to see the movie too, so he didn't want to risk getting permanently kicked out of Sango's room for the rest of the night, as she had been frequently threatening to do.

After the two had left, Inuyasha turned the wall screen back on and flipped through the channels without interest while waiting for Kagome to return with her movie. Sango went back to her magazine while Miroku stared longingly at the back her head, still holding her pillow.

**III.**

"I can't believe that homeless guy ran off with all the popcorn," Kohaku said disappointedly as he and Kagome made their way down a semi-lit hallway on the third floor. They reached the end of the hall and turned to climb up the stairs.

"It's okay," said Kagome. She was fond of Kohaku: he reminded her of her own little brother. "We don't need popcorn to enjoy the movie anyway." She waved the little disk in the air, but Kohaku made no reply.

They continued walking until they reached an intersection in the hallway. Down the hall on the left was Sango and Kohaku's compartment, but Kagome stopped and stared down the hall on the right, where something had caught her eye. Kohaku paused too and turned to see what she was looking at.

"It-It's a ghost!" he sputtered.

"Don't be so silly Kohaku," Kagome chided and she started off down the right hall, curiosity getting the better of her. Frightened but at a loss, Kohaku reluctantly followed behind her. As they got closer and the figure came into view, Kagome turned to him and smiled. "See? It's just a little girl."

"Hi there!" Kagome greeted brightly when they had finally reached her. "I haven't seen you around here before. Are you new?"

"I'm looking for someone," the little girl replied in answer. Kagome blinked at her. It was easy to see why Kohaku mistook her for a ghost: she certainly looked like one. She was dressed head to toe in white and Kagome had never seen someone so pale. Her face appeared devoid of any emotion and she was holding something under her arm.

"Who are you looking for?" Kagome asked gently, disregarding the child's odd appearance. She was still a little girl.

"You," she stated plainly. "Kagome Higurashi."

"Um..." Kagome wasn't sure what to say; she was quite startled.

"Come with me," said the girl in the same monotone voice as before. She reached out with her free arm and took Kagome by the hand, leading her further down the hall. Kagome, a little dumbfounded, let her, and Kohaku nervously ran to catch up with them. They went up another set of stairs to the fifth and final floor, where the girl lead them all the way down to the end of the hall. Doors lined the walls on their left and right, while the end wall was devoted to a large window that overlooked the dark, empty streets below.

"Look," ordered the girl, letting go of Kagome's hand so she could hold up the thing she had been carrying under her arm. Both Kagome and Kohaku leaned forward to look at the object. Kagome thought it looked very much like a mirror, yet she could not see her reflection in it. She looked from the strange object to its owner, wondering if the girl was going to explain now, but the girl simply stared back at her. Confused, Kagome looked to Kohaku. She gasped. The boy had gone suddenly stiff and his eyes were unfocused and distant, as if he wasn't there.

"Kohaku?" she said, waving a hand in front of his face. He did not response. A panicked feeling rose within her chest and she whirled back to the little girl.

"What's going on?" Something wasn't right. The little girl was still staring at her.

"Oh well," she finally said, and as the words left her mouth, something crashed through building, sending chunks of the ceiling and the walls flying. Kagome screamed and the shaking sent her stumbling backwards. Kohaku, on the other hand, didn't even flinch, nor did the little girl.

It was some sort of a creature...a dragon-like monster...it had punctured itself into the building! It must have been huge, for only its front half fit into the hall, the back half still hanging somehow on the outside. It was coated in silver, gleaming scales and it had large, red eyes, eyes that found Kagome's and seemed to be boring into her skull. She wanted to scream and run, but she couldn't pull away from it's frightening gaze. It was like it was a giant snake and she was the small, helpless little mouse, paralyzed with fear.

"There are two," the monster spoke. It's voice was a deep rumbling sound, and it was so loud that it caused the building to shake with each word. "We came for one. Can I eat the extra?"

"I do not know," said the little girl. She replaced the mirror back under her arm again and approached the dragon-demon, which obediently lowered its head. With a single leap, the girl was able to jump onto its head, where she stood calmly and secure. Slowly, she raised her free arm and made a beckoning gesture with her fingers. Kagome watched with horror as Kohaku suddenly came back to life and walked forward towards the monster and the girl.

"Kohaku, don't!" she yelled, now able to find her voice, but the boy didn't seem to hear her. He climbed up the monster's head and took a spot behind the girl, his expression just as blank as hers.

"We can with take him with us and I shall ask," the girl mumbled. The monster snorted in a pleased sounding way. It turned its eyes back on Kagome, who was shaking uncontrollably in fear, her heart racing and her breathing uneven. She couldn't think; the only thing she could focus on was the terrible creature that was lurking forward in her direction.

It's talons dug into the floor as it pulled itself further inside, breaking away more of the roof and walls as it did. Kagome vaguely noticed the wings on its back. It was reaching for her now, reaching out with one of it's clawed foot while the little girl remained perfectly balanced on the top of its head. Plaster from the ceiling rained down upon them and cracks ran through the floor; soon, it would possibly give out under the monster's weight.

Kagome could faintly hear screams and sirens, and a jumble of other noise in the background. When the huge claws were just inches away, her mind finally snapped out its paralyzation and she jumped backwards, then turned and started to run in a blind panic. She had to get away, get out of the building so it couldn't get her. If she could just make it back to the stairs, she might have a chance...

The monster roared and slammed its fist into the floor, sending another tremor throughout the building. The roof appeared to be falling completely apart now: it caved in, crumbled, and fell.

A large piece of it hit Kagome, making everything go black.

**IV.**

"Did you guys feel that?"

"Feel what?" asked Sango, lowering her magazine to look at Inuyasha. He suddenly looked very serious and tense, the ears on top his head twitching back and forth and his face deep in concentration. He opened his mouth to answer her, but a loud crashing noise beat him to it and the whole building shook.

"An earthquake?" Miroku wondered aloud. He looked shocked, and so did Sango.

"I don't think we've ever had an earthquake here," she said. "We're not even close to a tectonic plate or anything."

"It's not a earthquake," Inuyasha growled, looking up at the ceiling. "It's coming from the floor above us."

"What?!" Sango cried, while at the same time Miroku went, "Are you serious?"

Inuyasha did not waste time elaborating, however: he ran right out the door. His friends instantly took off to follow him down the hall and up the stairs to the fifth floor, where the source of the shaking was coming from. Both jerked to halt when they saw what it was.

The end of the hall was completely and utterly destroyed, a fresh ruin. There was a large, winged creature flying out of it and upwards into the night sky. Not only that, but there were people riding on it too. Sitting behind its head was a figure in white, and behind her...

"Kohaku!" Sango yelled, not believing her eyes. She grabbed onto Miroku and gasped, "It has my brother! Miroku, that thing has my baby brother!"

Miroku stood frozen in shock and stared. Quietly, his voice barely a whisper, he said, "And Kagome..."

"What?!" Sango whirled her head back towards the monster and sure enough, clenched tightly in one of it's feet was an unconscious Kagome, hanging limp in its claws.

It flapped its mighty wings and soared away from the building. At the same time, a determined Inuyasha rushed down the remainder of the hallway and jumped. The Linder House and his frightened friends vanished below him and he was in the air, flying after the monster, his arms stretched outwards, reaching desperately for Kagome. He was getting closer. He reached as hard as he could. His fingers brushed against the dragon-demon's scales...

Then air was rushing between them as Gravity did its worse. Suddenly and quickly, he and the creature were very far apart, the creature flying higher into the sky and Inuyasha steadily falling down from it. The ground was rushing up at him but he couldn't focus to steady himself, for the image of the creature flying away with Kagome was all he could see and think about. '_It got away, it got away...dammit! How could I have let it get away?!'_

Something hit him–or rather, he hit something–forcing his attention back to the matter at hand. There was a loud crack, followed by more snapping sounds. A dark blur of greens and browns soared before him, and then some red was added to blur, flashing on and off. Then he could hear shouts and screams and sirens, all around him and growing louder/

Then he hit the ground, and all went quiet.

**.t.b.c**


	3. This Is How It Is

**A/N: **Well, it's coming along now, slowly but surely. Huzzah! And...yeah, that's I really have to say for now. xD You know what to do: Read! Review! And a skittley-diddly-do!

Wahoo,

Zana

* * *

**(3) This Is How It Is**

_,like it or not_

**V.**

"You're both going to die now, no matter what."

Naraku. With one arm, he held Kagome hostage. In the other, he held a gun and aimed it at Inuyasha's chest.

Inuyasha tensed. If he moved, Naraku could quickly stop him with one pull of the trigger. Or worse: he could turn the gun on Kagome. He had to distract Naraku somehow, get him away from her so she could escape. But escape to where? And how? Inuyasha needed to think, but there was no time to think, he had to act, he had to act now, he had to–

Kagome thrust herself backwards, her and Naraku both now suddenly plunging off the roof. Inuyasha's eyes grew wide as he saw them go over, in what almost seemed to be slow motion. Definitely no time to think now; he ran forward.

Naraku lost his hold on Kagome.

Inuyasha leapt off the roof after them.

Naraku continued to fall.

Inuyasha, arms out, reached for Kagome as he soared across the gap.

He didn't catch her.

_Didn't catch..?_

Inuyasha seemed to freeze in mid-air so that he could watch as Kagome plummeted further down. The buildings where no longer there; instead, it was just a big, black gaping hole, no bottom in sight. Kagome's screams filled his ears as she fell further and further, so far that she became merely a dot, until the darkness swallowed her completely.

Inuyasha was still holding out his arm, but there was no one there now to grab it. A moment passed before it dropped limply back to his side.

"It's not my fault!" cried an angry voice. Inuyasha sprang up in surprise and turned around. There, standing in front of him with his hands clenched at his sides, was himself. Inuyasha took in the glaring eyes, the tense posture, the face red with rage. Yes. That was definitely him he was looking at.

"I warned her," the other him said desperately. "I told her not to get involved. It's not my fault she didn't listen!"

"She did listen." Inuyasha whirled to his left. There stood another one of him, this one looking sad and regretful. He was staring down at his feet as he spoke.

"But she believed in me," he continued. "That's why. She trusted me. She thought she could depend on me, but I couldn't help her. It _is_ my fault."

"That's not true!" yelled the angry him as the somber him bowed his head. Inuyasha sat down silently between his selves, listening but not looking at them, his own mind blank.

"I never told her she could depend on me! That was her mistake, not mine!"

"But I befriended her. Friends are supposed to depend on each other."

"Like friends are any good." Inuyasha didn't look up this time, but he knew that yet another him had made an appearance. His voice was deadpan, emotionless, and the words all too familiar.

"They only weigh me down," he said. "And it's not like they're actually _like _me anyway. How could anyone like me? I'm not a demon, not a human, I'm not anything."

The angry him glowered. The somber him frowned. The Inuyasha in the middle said nothing. The final him laughed mirthlessly.

"Heh. It's all just a big joke, isn't it? I'm not free. I don't have friends. I don't belong anywhere and I never will. And you know what? None of it even matters. It never mattered, because this life of mine is all just a joke."

"It isn't very funny," the original Inuyasha finally spoke. He got up on his feet, although he didn't know what he was standing on: everything was still all black. Regardless, he walked forward, looking straight ahead as he passed the other Inuyashas. He took one more step forward, then was hit with the sensation of falling. He couldn't see or hear anything now, but he was fairly certain that he was indeed falling. Falling from what and to where, who knew?

Maybe he was just simply falling.

"Inuyasha?"

Someone was shaking was his shoulder. He groaned and opened his eyes. He wasn't falling anymore: he was back in his room, safely tucked into his bed.

"What is it Mom?" he asked groggily as he threw off the covers and forced himself to get out of bed. Sesshomaru was still asleep, he noticed with envy, curled up all nice and snug beside the fire. It wasn't fair.

"They're here," said his mother, recapturing his attention. "They're going to cut off your ears," she said calmly. Inuyasha just nodded and shuffled out his room, bothered by his itchy pajamas. It had race cars printed all over it, but Inuyasha didn't like race cars.

He came to a stop when he reached the kitchen. It wasn't his kitchen, but he was in there. And so was that gnome again, wearing the same pink tutu. It was up on the counter, digging through one of the cabinets. It reappeared with a jar of peanut butter in its hands and it grinned in triumph before proceeding to wiggle its butt at Inuyasha tauntingly. Inuyasha growled and leapt forward, claws out. In turn, the gnome bounced off the counter and began to run for his life. Suddenly, they were both in race cars. Inuyasha was flooring it, hoping to catch with up with the hated gnome and run him off the tracks...

"Give me back my peanut butter!" he yelled.

"What? But I don't have your peanut butter!"

The deep, merry voice began to chuckle. Inuyasha slowly opened his eyes, waking up to reality this time: he was in his bed in Mushin's apartment, and the portly man himself was sitting in a chair beside his bed. Inuyasha sat up and rubbed his face, trying to remember what he had just been dreaming about. At first, all he could recall was chasing after a midget in a tutu. That was a weird one. Almost as weird as that time when he dreamed he was the first ever mermaid to go to space. Which, incidentally, was crowded with floating bunny rabbits instead of asteroids and...

Wait, Kagome...that's right, he remembered, Kagome was in his dream too. Something about her falling...

"How do you feel?" Mushin asked, interrupting his tangled thoughts.

"Like I've been hit by a hovercar," he mumbled, realizing that his body felt sore and he had one major migraine. "Repeatedly," he added, placing a hand to his forehead. "What the hell happened?"

"You fell out the building," his caretaker replied plaintively. "From the fifth floor."

The usually jolly man's expression turned serious, but Inuyasha barely noticed as he tried to make sense of things. _He_ fell out the building? That didn't sound right. How could he have fallen out of the building anyway?

Then he remembered. Kagome. He had jumped off the building in an attempt to reach Kagome, who was...being carried away by a dragon? It must have been another part of his dream. Probably caused by that fantasy movie they watched that night. Or, wait, did they even watch the movie?

Inuyasha pressed his hand harder into his forehead. He could barely think straight, but the memories were finally starting to resurface clearly.

They were going to watch a movie, but they didn't, because Kagome never came back with it. She didn't come back because she and Kohaku were taken away by some sort of demon monster. Inuyasha had jumped after it, but it flew off before he could reach it, which is why he fell. And then...

He looked to Mushin, who met his eyes and stared grimly back. "What happened after I hit the ground?"

"City Guard and Medics had just rushed to the scene," the old man began. "They loaded you up and took you to the hospital, along with a good number of others. Miraculously, the damage was nowhere as near serious as they had first thought, and they only kept you for a few hours before returning you here. According to the doctor, you had sustained a head injury along with several bruises and some fractured bones, but by the time you arrived at the hospital, all your minor wounds had already healed themselves and after some assistance from the medical team, you were as good as new. Or almost new, anyway. Good enough that you didn't need to stay overnight."

"What about the dragon?" Inuyasha asked with a hint of annoyance. He didn't care what had happened to _him_, he wanted to know what had happened to everyone else. Mushin took his time answering, however, which only made Inuyasha more annoyed. And uneasy.

"It got away," he finally replied.

Inuyasha opened his mouth to speak, but just then Miroku appeared in his room and yanked him out of bed by his arm.

"Finally! It's about time you're awake," he said as he pulled him towards the door. Inuyasha jerked his arm free but continued to follow, ignoring Mushin's protests that he needed more rest.

"How long was I out?" he asked worriedly.

"Just a day. We were attacked last night and you've been unconscious since the fall. It's half-past noon right now."

They entered Miroku's bedroom, although the bed in question was hard to spot under all the mechanical junk he had laying around. It looked more like a workshop than a living space, which is why Inuyasha was so grateful that he now his own room. Tangles of wires crisscrossed the ceiling and dappled down like vines, a large computer occupied one of the walls, and every other available space was cluttered with gizmos, tools, gadgets, random electronic parts, and a few other things Inuyasha couldn't put a name to. Miroku plopped down into his computer chair and swiveled to face Inuyasha, who had cleared a standing place off on the floor.

"I bet you're thinking what I'm thinking," Miroku began.

"Naraku," growled Inuyasha.

It couldn't have been a random attack; there was too much of a coincidence. What else would a creature like that want them for? If it was hunting, it would have eaten _anyone_, and a lot more than just a couple people, for a thing it's size. Besides, it had to be an unusually strong demon to get through city security the way it did. If something threatening somehow enters the city limits, the City Guard is notified at once. But _this _thing seemed to sneak though the defenses, because no one was aware of it until the actual attack occurred. There was only culprit they could think of who had the means and motives to send such a creature here.

"But what I don't understand is why it took Kagome and Kohaku," said Miroku. "Why didn't it go after you, or just destroy the whole building?"

"Maybe that's the best it could do," Inuyasha said, after some thought. "Or Naraku is toying with me. He probably had Kagome kidnaped to bait me. Kohaku must have just been in the way."

"But there was a third person too." Miroku spun around absently in his chair, deep in thought. He recalled being questioned by the Guard and what they had discovered. "An unidentified little girl. At least, when the City Guard was scanning pictures, before the demon got too far away, there was a little girl there too. But when they switched to thermascans to continue tracking it, only three bodies of heat showed up, the largest one obviously the demon's. One of the three victims wasn't giving off any body heat, but the pictures taken suggests that all them were alive at the time."

Inuyasha hoped they were still alive _now_ as he processed this new information with a frown. He couldn't even begin to guess who the third person was. Perhaps some tenant who was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. Except Miroku said she hadn't been identified.

He would have to figure it out later.

"Are they still tracking it?" he asked. Miroku stopped spinning and shook his head.

"They lost it at the border," he said. "But that just confirms our theory even more, you know. It went west, into Haden."

Inuyasha felt the urge to pace around as he thought, but he tried to stand still, least he trip over a cord or something. Miroku's room was full of pitfalls.

"Where's Sango?"

"She was called back to the station for further questioning, because of Kohaku."

"Have they found anything out?"

"Right now they're saying it was just a random attack by a desperate demon," Miroku said. "So in other words, no."

Inuyasha cursed. He knew what was going to happen: absolutely nothing. Sure, they would question and investigate, maybe try to strengthen city security...but they wouldn't take any actions. No one had taken any actions when he and Kagome escaped from Haden and told them about the facility. He still remembered the disappointment on Kagome's face when they were told, "After the war."

After the war. That was always the excuse. There have been many incidents throughout the country that have gone ignored because they were too "busy" with the war. No one would be sent out on a search and rescue mission, not for just "a couple people". Not until after the war. You had to look at the bigger picture here, they said.

But it's hard to look at the bigger picture when you know the people in the individual snapshots.

One look at Miroku told Inuyasha that he was thinking the same thing. He had probably been thinking about it all night. No, he had been thinking about it ever since Inuyasha arrived in Reem. Now he just had a reason.

Inuyasha watched him and waited for it. Miroku remained silent for a while, fiddling with some circuit bits on his desk, until he finally put his work down and spun around back around in his chair again, looking up at Inuyasha with knowing eyes.

"So," he said as expected, "When are we going Haden?"

**VI.**

She opened her eyes and instantly regretted it.

They were up high. Real high. So high that the ground below was merely a passing blur. They were going fast, too. The wind whipped at Kagome's face almost painfully and her eyes were beginning to water. It was like riding a roller coaster on steroids.

It was even hard to breath because of how tightly she was being gripped in the demon's foot. She squirmed a bit, but that was the limit of her movements. She wanted to scream, but she didn't think she could manage. With nothing else to do, she went limp again and shut her eyes. She preferred being unconscious.

"Almost there," said a rumbling voice gleefully, which Kagome realized was coming from the demon that was carrying her. It's whole body seemed to vibrate as it spoke. She didn't know where "there" was nor was she too keen to find out.

Suddenly the demon swung and dipped, diving down through the air. Kagome's stomach flip-flopped and her breathing tried to accelerate, but determined, she kept her eyes shut. As they dropped in altitude, she slipped back into the comfortable darkness.

Ignorance is bliss, and she wanted to enjoy that ignorance while she still could.

**VII. **

"You've already packed and everything?!"

"One must always be prepared," Miroku easily replied, handing him a backpack. It was stuffed full with instant food packets, all which Inuyasha loathed. (With the exception of the ramen.) Inuyasha slung it over his back while Miroku added a few more things in another one, mainly electronics. It was while he deciding what and what not to take that something occurred to him, and he stopped what he was doing to think it over.

"What's wrong?" asked Inuyasha at this sudden silence. Miroku licked his lips, his face thoughtful. His eyes studied Inuyasha, as if he was looking for something, which was a little unnerving on Inuyasha's part. "What?" he asked again, in a demanding tone this time.

"You're bugged," Miroku said.

"Yeah I am, because you won't tell me what's wrong!"

"No, that _is_ what's wrong. When I say you're bugged, I mean there's a tracking device planted on you somewhere," Miroku explained. "Naraku must have figured that Kagome would be near you, so he traced your location. How else would he have found us?"

Inuyasha stared, speechless. Tracking device? He knew they had mixed tracers into the ink for his bar code, but he thought he had taken care of that. He rolled up his sleeve and examined the scars that slashed across his shoulder. None of the bar code remained; he had practically removed his shoulder's entire upper epidermis to make sure of it.

"What's that?" Miroku asked, getting to his feet so he could get a better look.

Inuyasha told him about the bar codes that were tattooed on the left shoulder of every subject in the Facility, and how there were tracers in the ink, and how he had used his own claws to scratch his off after he had escaped. Miroku took this in without comment and lapsed back into thoughtfulness. That was Miroku for you: he analyzed things first, then expressed emotion about it later.

After coming to some sort of conclusion, he returned to his desk and began digging through one of the drawers. From it, he extracted a small but delicate microscope. He set it on the desk then went back to Inuyasha, holding a thin piece of square glass between his fingers.

"I hate to ask this, but you would please prick your finger a little so that I can get a blood sample?"

Inuyasha was puzzled, but he did as he was asked, least Miroku think he was some kind of wimp. He held up his left index finger then used the claw on his right to prick it near the top. A small drop of blood welled up and Inuyasha held out his finger for Miroku, who gently swiped his piece of glass over the tiny wound, smearing it with blood. Inuyasha wiped the remaining blood off on his jacket for the second time that day before following Miroku to his desk. Miroku slid another piece of glass over top the first one, then placed it on a tray underneath the lense. He put his eye into the eyepiece and fiddled with the knobs until he got the focus right. Then came another silent examination, testing the limits of Inuyasha's patience.

"Are you going to tell me what you're doing, or am I going to have to guess this time?" he finally snapped.

Miroku raised his head away from the microscope and frowned at him. "I was right. You're still bugged. I can see tiny flecks of silver in the blood sample. The tracers in the ink must have entered your bloodstream shortly afterwards. Scratching your bar code off was pointless."

"Are you freaking kidding me?" Inuyasha asked, more to himself than Miroku. "So my whole body's been planted with tracers? And Naraku knew where I was this whole time?"

"I'm afraid so."

"Then why didn't he..? Argh!" Inuyasha desperately wanted to punch something. Naraku _was_ playing with him. "So now what? How can I stop him from tracking me, without draining all the blood out of my body?!"

"Oh, that's the easy part," Miroku replied off handedly, looking back into his microscope. "I just have to match the frequency of the tracers to a debugging wand and then scan you with it. The little devices will still be in your bloodstream, of course, but their power will be neutralized so they won't work anymore."

"Great. How long will that take?" Inuyasha wanted to leave _now_. There was no telling what Naraku might do to Kagome and the others. They needed to catch up as soon as possible; the demon who took them already a day's head start.

"Only an hour at most. I _am_ expert, you know. But while you're waiting, try to get a hold of Sango, will ya? She should be done by now and you know she'll be wanting to go too."

"I'd rather she didn't," Inuyasha said. "The less people who tag along, the faster I'll get there."

"She's going to go whether you her to or not," said Miroku evenly. "Especially now that Naraku has her friend _and_ her little brother, the only family she has left."

"Well, what about Mushin? You think he's just going to let you go?"

"Yes," Miroku said. "He knows why; we've already discussed it. I know he doesn't really want to me to, but he won't stop me. Now stop trying to find excuses and go call Sango. Despite what you think, if she comes along, we will get there faster, so there."

What did Mushin know, and why would Sango get them there faster? Inuyasha wanted to know, but unfortunately, he was no longer in the mood to argue. Miroku knew a lot, but he tended to believe that everyone else did as well, so he hardly ever bothered to explain something without prompting. It was an aspect of him Inuyasha found highly aggravating.

With a frustrated sigh, Inuyasha battled his way out of Miroku's room, having decided to just contact Sango and get it over with. There wasn't any time to argue anyway. Once in the hallway, he briefly paused to touch the necklace Kagome had given him.

_She better be all right,_ he thought angerily. _Or someone's gonna get it._

**t.b.c.**

* * *

**(Omake React!)**

_Inuyasha multiples and starts to argue with himself. Then his mother is magically alive again and a transexual gnome is bugging him._

_And then he wakes up._

**Inuyasha: **Whew! Thank god, it was just an acid trip!

**(fin)**


End file.
